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How would you build a catwalk (for cats)?

yes, this may possibly the most random thread EVER on archinect, but does anyone have ideas of how to detail/construct a suspended catwalk for cats?

my roommate and i are convinced this will be a project of epic proportions... anyways, we have this large, open living space that's pretty high - like 14 feet. we'd like to do something fairly inexpensive - but pretty sturdy and nicely crafted. initially we discussed suspending planks or bolted 2x4s with a series of chains, but on second thought I think having even a little sway in the catwalk would be a bad thing... perhaps suspending it with fixed steel rods, or something, would be preferable.

Here's this random image that communicates the idea we're looking for, though obviously we'll make do with something much less sheik:

There is a weird documentary called "Home Movie" (2001). It profiles a bunch of weird houses across America, one of them being a house that has an elaborate system of catwalks, hidden rooms, tiny doors, etc.... These guys had at least a dozen cats. It's available on Netflix, and def. worth checking out before you proceed with this project.

it seems like the cat would be slipping and sliding all over the place with plexi. there's a reason why those ugly cat condos are made out of carpet, i.e. traction and good clawing surface. perhaps you could use a half decent carpet and then concentrate your effort on the form and structure.

that's not a random image - I'm pretty sure it's from a whole house (in Japan?) set up with cat access spaces throughout. ...If that's the one I'm thinking of. Anyway I'll see if I can find it for you. In the meanwhile, there's this:

I would say, NO sway, and NO plexi or see-through material. I like the incorporation of the scratch material on the stairs above (it's on each tread) and in the house I referenced there's a pretty sweet cat-scratch column - I swear I'll find this thing soon...

This is so awesome! Those cats must really love their catwalk, its like a theme park for them. I think the cheapest way will probably be with using ropes instead of beams, the cats then will swing on it.

I threw this together because I'm trying to avoid hitting up the bottle.

The idea is to use some of those oversize shadow boxes, cubby holes-- you know like the ones from ikea? Anyways, use them to form a series of steps.

Then construct a plexiglass box with little internal near perpendicular cross braces inside. Glue the 4 sides and internal braces together. Slide it in the boxes with some glue on the ends.

And voila, you should have a plexiglass cat walk long enough to span a 10'-16' space without too much deflection. Just offset the sides when it comes to seaming the pieces together because I'm sure you won't find plexiglass sheets that long.

For added safety, you could put little dots of 100% silicone on top of the catwalk so there's some grip and you won't affect the transparency much. I'm 98% sure 100% silicone is non-toxic.